Exeter man charged with bilking 2 elderly widows out of more than $1M

Wednesday

Oct 10, 2012 at 6:30 AMOct 10, 2012 at 7:27 AM

EXETER, N.H. (AP) — An Exeter businessman is facing charges that he bilked two elderly widows out of more than $1 million.

A federal indictment charges Frederick McMenimen with mismanaging the funds and pocketing the money for himself while working as a financial adviser in Portsmouth. He's charged with mail fraud, interstate transportation of goods taken by fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

According to the indictment, McMenimen spent $134,000 on his home mortgage, more than $31,000 for docking and yacht utilities, over $120,000 for his children's private school and college tuition, and about $350,000 in credit card payments.

The Portsmouth Herald (http://bit.ly/T4pyW2 ) says McMenimen is already facing a civil lawsuit for allegedly mismanaging $900,000 of a family friend's money to benefit himself.